PHILADELPHIA – The
No. 13 Penn men’s squash team (3-2, 0-0 Ivy) begin Ivy League match play this
weekend, welcoming third-ranked Harvard (7-0, 1-0) to the Ringe Squash Courts
on Saturday at noon, and No. 8 Dartmouth (3-2, 0-1) on Sunday at 11 a.m. Penn
will look to break Harvard’s stranglehold on them, one that has lasted since
the beginning of Ivy League competition and has seen the Crimson go 68-2
all-time against the Red and Blue. Against the Big Green, the Quakers hold a
considerable edge all-time, 46-23, but will look to get back on track after
losing the last three meetings.

Harvard

Although two all-time wins are not too much to be excited
about, one thing the Quakers can hang their hats on is the fact that both came
at home. Penn, which hasn’t beaten Harvard since 1979 – the same year the
legendary Ned Edwards coached Penn to a National Collegiate Championship – will
look to find that same magic at the Ringe once again.

The match to watch on Saturday will most certainly be at No.
1 between two players that have never seen one another. Penn’s senior captain
Danny Greenberg (3-2) is ranked No. 60 in the most recent CSA individual
rankings, and he will be playing Ali Farag (3-0), who holds the No. 1 spot on
that list.

Greenberg started the season slow, but heads into the match
the winner of three straight, his most recent coming over Andrew McGuinness of
Navy, 3-1 (11-8, 11-9, 11-13, 11-4). Farag, on the other hand, has had a bit
more stiff competition this year, but has stood tough, downing Andres Duany of
Rochester and Christopher Hanson of Dartmouth, two top-10 players. Greenberg, Penn’s
lone senior and team captain, will look to lead his team by example by
upsetting the nation’s top collegiate men’s squash player.

As a team, both Harvard and Penn have squared off against
Bates and Williams. The Quakers won a close match against Bates in Washington,
D.C., 5-4, but suffered the opposite fate against Williams, losing 5-4. The
Crimson topped both teams with ease, 9-0 each.

Dartmouth

Penn has dominated Dartmouth throughout their history,
especially at home where the Quakers hold a 21-8 advantage. But, the Red and Blue
have lost three straight to the Big Green – one at home – and will look to get
themselves back in the win column. Most recently, the two teams met in Hanover,
N.H. on Jan. 15 of last season, and Dartmouth took an extremely tight match,
5-4.

The match at No. 1 is an intriguing one that pits Greenberg
against Hanson, a player he has met just once in his collegiate career – Hanson
dropped Greenberg at No. 1 in straight games, 3-0 (13-11, 11-2, 11-4) on Feb.
7, 2010 in Hanover when the two were both freshmen – but knows extremely well,
having met as early as 2003. In total, the two have squared off eight times, including
five junior championships, and have split, 4-4, with Hanson taking the last
three.